Tag Archives: franklin

Cody Simpson opened at the Justin Bieber concert one year ago at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville. He will perform an acoustic show on Sunday, after an appearance at the CoolSprings Galleria mall. / Larry McCormack / File / The Tennessean

Simpson is coming to town to play an all-ages show at the Mercy Lounge in Nashville on Sunday night.

The Meet and Greet with Cody Simpson runs from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. The first 150 fans will receive a free headshot for Cody Simpson to sign.

Build-A-Bear Workshop is located on the upper level of the Galleria near Dillard’s and Starbucks.
Simpson, who was named “Favorite Aussie Superstar” at the 2012 Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards, is marking the release of “Paradise” by teaming up with Big Time Rush for a North American tour. Concert dates continue through September. Cody will then join Justin Bieber on a series of dates in early October.

Four years after having to cancel a tour with Paul Simon due to vocal cord paresis, Art Garfunkel has recovered and is ready to hit the stage - and his first stop is Franklin, Tenn.

Garfunkel kicks off a 2014 tour with three dates at the Franklin Theatre on January 29-31.

"The voice is back," the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer said in a statement. "I'm in flight again. I believe I have grown through adversity. A new creation has emerged that is truly exciting me — my stage show."

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — Authorities in Muslim-majority Malaysia have banned a planned concert by U.S. pop singer Ke$ha after deciding it would hurt cultural and religious sensitivities.

Ke$ha is the daughter of Nashville songwriter Pebe Sebert and attended Brentwood High School before moving out to Los Angeles to pursue her music career.

Concert organizer Livescape said it received a letter about the decision on the eve of the show that was to be held Saturday at a Kuala Lumpur stadium.

The Ministry of Communications and Multimedia said separately that it was rejecting the application for Ke$ha to perform for reasons of religion and culture.

The ministry's statement did not elaborate. Ke$ha, whose hits include "Tik Tok" and "Die Young," has songs that make explicit references to sex and liquor.

Last month, Malaysian officials also barred a performance by American metal band Lamb of God, accusing the Grammy-nominated group's work of being blasphemous.

Ke$ha and her team had previously agreed to modify their planned show in Malaysia, including making changes to her song lyrics and wardrobe, to comply with the government's general guidelines for performers, Livescape said in its statement.

Livescape said it was losing more than 1.1 million ringgit ($350,000) because of the ban. It urged the Malaysian government to "engage in a productive dialogue" with concert promoters to prevent similar incidents.

16-year-old Franklin, Tenn. resident Juhi Pathak has a lot on her mind these days.

"It's my senior year of high school," she explains. "So it's just been super, super busy and really stressful, with a lot going on."

Juhi Pathak on 'The Voice' (photo: Tyler Golden/NBC)

It's a hectic time in any teenager's life, but on top of that, Pathak spent her summer auditioning - and making the cut - on NBC's hit televised singing competition "The Voice."

While pre-taped episodes featuring her performances have aired in recent weeks, she's back in class at Page High School, and keeping quiet about whether or not she'll make it to the show's live rounds later this year.

Earlier this week, viewers saw her narrowly avoid elimination from the series: after her original celebrity coach Cee Lo Green made the tough decision to drop her from his team, she was "stolen" by Maroon 5's Adam Levine. It was a dramatic moment, but not as nerve-wracking as her first audition for the coaches.

"That was the most nervous I've ever been in my life," she says. "Sometimes I'm like, 'Did that actually happen? I could have sworn that was a dream.' It didn't feel real, and when you see it on TV, it finally feels like it's real, actually."

Kirk Whalum will be among the headliners at Jazzmania. Photo by Mark Alberhasky

What surprises people most about the Nashville Jazz Workshop? “That we’re even here,” said Roger Spencer. “We seem to do a fairly good unintentional job of flying under the radar. I’m surprised every day at the number of people I meet that love jazz and don’t know we’re here.”

Spencer, a bassist, founded the workshop in 1998 with his wife, pianist Lori Mechem.

One way the workshop promotes itself and raises money for its many programs is its annual fundraiser, Jazzmania, which takes place Oct. 20 at The Factory at Franklin.

Things get underway at 4 p.m. with a performance by saxophonist Evan Cobb and his quintet. At 5 p.m., vocalist Sandra Dudley performs with her group.

Live auctions begin at 6 p.m. before a concluding performance by saxophonist Kirk Whalum joined by Spencer and Mechem.

“The music is always great because we have our Jazz Workshop faculty artists perform,” said Larry Seeman, director of development. “This year it’s even coming up a notch because Kirk Whalum, who was on our faculty and was on our board, is coming back to perform. He’s a favorite here in town and is a wonderful, versatile musician.”

Part of what makes the Nashville Jazz Workshop special is the meeting of accomplished professionals with eager hobbyists of all ages.

Classes are offered at the workshop’s Neuhoff Complex location in seven six-week sessions and range from listening and history classes to improvisation, ensembles and vocal repertoire. A scholarship program provides instruction for aspiring young musicians, and there also is a summer youth jazz camp.

Spencer cites an age range of 14 to 91 in one of his classes. “Just like the age span, the ability span is all over the map,” he said.

Small Works Art Collection: "NJW Directional Players," by Sallie Mayne

While classes are offered Mondays through Thursdays, weekends are for performances. But, again, that’s something even people familiar with Nashville Jazz Workshop may not realize.

“The people that know that we’re doing classes and teaching jazz are not necessarily aware of the live jazz we do, and the people that come to the live jazz performances are not necessarily aware of the teaching we do,” Spencer said.

The workshop reaches about 700 students each year and has more than 30 performances in its Jazz Cave venue. There also are performances at places such as the Frist Center for the Visual Arts, Cheekwood and local universities and cultural festivals such as the Germantown Street Festival. Nashville Jazz Workshop also operates an Internet radio station and YouTube channel.

And, of course, there’s Jazzmania, which the workshop bills as “the greatest jazz party of the year.”

Along with the performances, the event includes a silent auction of small art pieces (most are 5-by-7 inches, some are 8-by-10 inches); dinners at local restaurants; jewelry and gift baskets with wine and CDs. Jazzmania’s live auction features large artworks and access to vacation homes in Florida.

“It’s a tremendous amount of fun. It’s a chance for jazz fans and fans of the arts to celebrate and have a good time, hear some great music and contribute to a great cause at the same time,” Seeman said.

In the '90s, his band, Better Than Ezra went from the Louisiana club circuit to MTV airwaves with the hits "Good" and "Desperately Wanting." Today, Kevin Griffin finds himself right at home in Franklin, Tenn. as an in-demand pop, rock and country songwriter.

But BTE is still going strong, and on Thursday night, they'll take the stage in Nashville to raise funds for arts and music programs at the Montessori School of Franklin, which Griffin's 4-year-old twin boys currently attend. The show will also feature performances from former "American Idol" champ David Cook and Tonic frontman Emerson Hart, another alt-rock hitmaker who's made a home in Nashville. Griffin says he sees lots of familiar faces in town these days.

"The quality of life you can have as a musician is much better than L.A. or New York, and it's all about the music in this town, the songwriting and the craft. There's a real respect and reverence for it that you don't find in other places."

Among the tunes that Griffin's penned or co-penned since moving to town is Sugarland's smash "Stuck Like Glue," with a "whoa-oh" refrain that echoes the chorus of his first hit, "Good." Griffin says his songs have always been story-driven, but he knows he's still getting a handle on country songwriting. Luckily, he feels like he has ample time to grow.

"I think your shelf life as a songwriter is longer in Nashville than it is in L.A." he says. "A lot of the top songwriters right now are mid-50s and up, and I like that, being 44 years old. I was like, 'How long am I going to want to be playing the pop game in L.A?' I don't want to be 50 and wearing increasingly silly tennis shoes, and saying, 'Dude, dope beat.'"

Better Than Ezra, Emerson Hart and David Cook perform at the Cannery Ballroom (1 Cannery Row) on Thursday, March 14. The show starts at 7 p.m., and tickets are $40 in advance, $50 at the door and $125 for VIP with open bar and hors d'oeuvres.

His detractors wouldn’t have believed it, nor would those who could recall the swift rise and fall of so many teen idols before him, from David Cassidy to the Jonas Brothers.

Believe it. Two and a half years later — a lifetime in his world — Bieber is once again playing a sold-out show at Bridgestone Arena, even after shedding his trademark mop-top, having his singing voice drop a good octave, turning 18 and landing in hot water a time or two.

If you have trouble recalling a time when he didn’t grab headlines on a daily basis, here’s a quick refresher on Bieber’s rise from obscurity to superstardom, and the many times that Music City’s played a role in that journey.

Earlier this year, Christian rock/pop duo For King & Country released a gritty, semi-violent video for single “The Proof of Your Love” that was shot in Nashville at an old meatpacking plant. At the shoot, extras walked around dressed in black with realistic make-up fashioned to make the actors look like they have open wounds. And member Joel Smallbone enthusiastically practiced falling from a small ledge onto a pad and then into the dirt in order to film a near death scene.

“The idea is a post-apocalyptic, underground prison where everyone is wearing earmuffs and there’s fabric over their mouths, and their pupils are dilated, and there’s very dark, vacant-looking faces,” says Joel. His brother Luke Smallone is the other half of the Australian duo. “The idea of the film is very closely tied to the song in that the words and what we speak and our actions have incredible power.”

"‘The Proof of Your Love Tour’ has been grueling and quite rewarding,” he says. “The beauty of this tour has been that we have been able to dream up, design and define what the night looks like at each stop. And, now, to perform the 34th and final show of the tour in Nashville, where we live, is fantastic. There is no better way to take a final bow on this tour than to play in the place we call home."

The Christian Musician Summit - an ongoing series of music conferences that offer workshops, performances and exhibits for Christian music-makers - will come to the Nashville area for the very first time in its nine-year history in October.

CMS Nashville will take place October 5-6 at Grace Chapel in Franklin (3279 Southall Rd), and will be preceded by a series of one-day bootcamps for songwriters and musicians on October 4.

CMS was founded 2003 and also has conferences scheduled for Seattle, Wash. and Buffalo, N.Y. The conference is aimed towards worship leaders, musicians, technicians, pastors, songwriters, and independent artists.